The Virtual IELab – an exercise in replicating part of the EXIOBASE V.2 production pipeline in a virtual laboratory

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe explore options to replicate the EXIOBASE2 multi-region input–output (MRIO) database in the Virtual IELab cloud-computing laboratory environment. Whereas EXIOBASE2 is constructed using a multi-process reconciliation procedure, we present an alternative compilation technique that uses EXIOBASE2's pre-processed data and final tables in reconciling the IELab MRIO with conflicting raw data information. This approach skips the labour-intensive step of detailing and harmonising country tables. Adherence metrics reveal the EXIOBASE2-based IELab table to be considerably less balanced than the original but with stronger adherence to other constraints data. However, these metrics are not comparable to the original EXIOBASE2 statistics due to the distinctive implementation of constraint sets in the two platforms. IELab's main value-added is its flexibility in tailoring EXIOBASE2-based MRIOs beyond the original recipe. Finally, IELab's global carbon, water and material footprints are shown to be comparable with previously reported resource footprints. In contrast, deviations in land footprints warrant further investigation.